yosemite graphics problem on macbook

I am experiencing intermittent graphics issues on my MacBook Pro 17 inch early 2011 model since Yosemite, expressed usually as patterns on part or all of the screen, followed by a hard reboot. The first time I started Aperture (the most recent update), the computer rebooted immediately. Now I seemingly can use Aperture.

The account I operate in has only normal privileges. When I tried user-switching into an Admin account, but screen dimmed and displayed a message about a "graphics problem" for a few seconds. Then there was a hard reboot, followed by a safe mode startup. Now, after a voluntary reboot I am operating in normal mode again.

I also have a Mini from 2012 or that is running Yosemite, with no problems so far.

I've basically got the exact same issue. But sometimes even a hard reboot doesn't do the job.

My early 2011 MacBook Pro heats up dramatically but is only showing a blank white screen. Usually a PRAM reset and/or a safe mode start does the job but not all the time. I have copied the log from the console last time this has happened when trying to play Hearthstone:

29.10.14 23:51:28,789 Hearthstone[347]: WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.0 instead of 10.10.0. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.

Call location:

29.10.14 23:51:28,790 Hearthstone[347]: 0 CarbonCore 0x9a5257e7 ___Gestalt_SystemVersion_block_invoke + 135

29.10.14 23:51:28,790 Hearthstone[347]: 1 libdispatch.dylib 0x9830a130 _dispatch_client_callout + 50

29.10.14 23:51:28,791 Hearthstone[347]: 2 libdispatch.dylib 0x9830a0b5 dispatch_once_f + 251

29.10.14 23:51:28,791 Hearthstone[347]: 3 libdispatch.dylib 0x9830b0d8 dispatch_once + 31

29.10.14 23:51:28,791 Hearthstone[347]: 4 CarbonCore 0x9a4b7fb8 _Gestalt_SystemVersion + 1050

29.10.14 23:51:28,791 Hearthstone[347]: 5 CarbonCore 0x9a4b7b69 Gestalt + 150

29.10.14 23:51:28,791 Hearthstone[347]: 6 Hearthstone 0x008cf342 _ZNK5Unity10GameObject15QueryComponentTI9TransformEEPT_i + 1728512

29.10.14 23:51:30,380 Hearthstone[347]: not in fullscreen state

The last entry seems especially weird since Hearthstone is set in fullscreen mode but this has been the moment when the screen went brown (this time, other colors: white most of the time, black and blue).

Any help would be appreciated.

I'm also experiencing graphics problems after upgrading to Yosemite.

Macbook (MacBook Pro Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) Freezes on use of hotcorners (show desktop) and randomly displays video glitches.

When the MacBook freezes I'm forced to hard reboot. Luckily, time-machine does its job.

Happy to hear a solution, or to receive an update.

Also, does anyone know how report this directly to apple? I only find typical customer problems on their support area. But this is definitely a software problem as everything worked like a charme before upgrading.

Have a nice day,

Best,

Roob

Ok, so here's what's working for me so far.

I went to https://gfx.io and downloaded the gfxCardStatus with which you can switch between Integrated only, Discrete only and Dynamic switching.

As long as I am keeping it to "Integrated only" everything is working just fine (but doesn't look as good most of the time of course). At least there are no crashes anymore. Applying last bits of logic the problem probably lies somewhere with the Discrete GPU. This can by no means be the solution but it is at least for a while (until I'll roll back to Mavericks tonight).

Please keep in mind that you have to switch to "Integrated only" everytime you wake the MBP from sleep.

Hope it helps until Apple decides to do something about this...

Cheers & happy Halloween

I just installed that software, and first I set it to 'Discrete only' (I play Eve), and it immediately went haywire and I had to hard reboot.

Setting it to 'integrated' makes sense (which I did); I'm guessing Yosemite likes Retina displays with integrated graphics vs. 2011 MacBook Pros that have both, and definitely doesn't like discrete graphics on this workhorse.

I guess Apple doesn't read these, but the volume of frustration and anger must be reaching their ears now.

Hi,

Let me share my experience in order to get Apple support guys react in a right way. Obviously the problem is non-integrated graphic card, in my case that is NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1024 MB on my late 2013 MacBook Pro (Retina) 15''. It seems everything work pretty fine as long as I'm not pushing my computer to use non integrated card, so I have problem playing games such are World Of Warcraft and Dota 2. In game frame rate drops down dramatically to around 10-15 in WOW, same for Dota. Games are unplayable. I actually doubt that machine don't switch to non integrated card when is needed and all the time work with integrated, which is unacceptable.

It would be great if someone from support can give us some tips, otherwise I will be forced to get back to Maverick which worked perfectly for me !

Misa_

Thanks for the gfxCardStatus workaround, unfortunately this doesn't work with a second display.

Something I really use with video production on my macbook.

Thanks

Roob

Roob, it was working for me on the internal and one external display, but on my discrete GPU only.

I am concerned when reading all these problems. I've just bricked my mac book pro 17" (early 2011) because of graphics problem. After that I did a bit of research on the web and it turned out to be a wide spread problem. But ****, that I only learn after I bought a replacement mid 2014 mac book pro retina 15".

So I am worried that the same nightmare will start again. It seems that Apple has a history of quality issue around discrete graphics adapter.

I'm having the same problem here. Macbook Pro Retina Mid 2012. Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024MB.

For me it crashes even when simply using Chrome or Safari on some sites that seem to test the graphics. The really frustrating thing is I use the laptop for business and run VMWare fusion so when it freezes I'm having to hard crash out my Windows VM and any open files are lost.

Please fix Apple. You've only got your own hardware to test on? Wasn't this always the point of not putting OS X on anyone else's hardware? You've hardly done a good testing job here...

I just hope to find someone to tell me how to get rid of Yosemite. Apple have brought out an updated OS that fails to match Snow Leopard in any aspect.

Basically there is no official way to get back to some other OSX, which is bad thing if you ask me. People have to have choice, I'm not sure why they are forcing me to use Yosemite if I do not like it ?

I upgraded to Yosemite at release but oddly have only started having problems over the last week. On occasion, my screen will freeze but I will still be able to move the mouse. No commands seem to work. After a hard reset I will sometimes get the error message "A graphics problem has been detected". I also just noticed some minor (though very apparent) graphics errors, where a green lined box was being displayed.

After doing a hardware diagnostic test there were no problems found. It sounds like this is a problem with Yosemite - I hope Apple updates soon.

I just installed that software, and first I set it to 'Discrete only' (I play Eve), and it immediately went haywire and I had to hard reboot.

Setting it to 'integrated' makes sense (which I did); I'm guessing Yosemite likes Retina displays with integrated graphics vs. 2011 MacBook Pros that have both, and definitely doesn't like discrete graphics on this workhorse.

I guess Apple doesn't read these, but the volume of frustration and anger must be reaching their ears now.

Updating my previous post:

after having to parameter RAM reboot several times, the gfxCardStatus software seems to be switching properly between graphics cards on my early 2011 MacBook Pro 15".

SInce Yosemite is built for current Macs that have only one graphics card Yosemite doesn't appear to be built to make that switch seamlessly. Also, I've noticed that websites or apps (e.g., I use Pearson Education's Gradebook) that use Java induce the switch to the discrete card on my MacBook!

Besides the wi-fi issues I hope Apple addresses this in the 10.10.1 update.

This MacBook has been a workhorse, and upgrading to a comparable15" retina MacBook is not worth the expense for me, and may even be step down with the upgrades I've made and can still make with this machine.